Monday, February 13, 2017

REVELATION through ENCOUNTER

While returning audio books due near closing time at the library on Friday I encountered a very distressed woman whose 'reserve' book could not be found and we struck up a conversation. She told me that she just had to have the book. It was a Calvin and Hobbs collection. Curious to be desperate about that I thought but could see she was quite legitimately upset in a way that indicated there was more to the compelling need. I didn't pry, but suggested she might find something in one of the two thrift shops next door. I was going in to check for VHS movies as I periodically do, and so we went together. After a bit more casual conversation she confided that her mother had died the week before without any warning of illness. Calvin and Hobbes was a favorite that she wanted to have for the the weekend. She was hurting so much, I helped her search. We didn't find any but she got happy just looking at books. We bonded over that, laughed about book addictions, and even got into conversation with a fellow book lover there. That scenario repeated at the second shop accompanied by more information about her previous jobs and skills. She played the piano at the Opera thrift and I learned a lot more in the hour we spent together than some folks learn in long relationships-she's an artist in many mediums, she lives alone and has been disappointed, she's shy. The last thing I found out was her name (Jill). Though I didn't find any movies, I did purchase this book for Ninety Nine Cents to send to Wendy Golden Levitt who works with children, with my thanks again for the Llama related gift she sent me.

Jill remembered knowing me from elsewhere and connections in the yoga community that went way back were revealed, also that we live within five blocks of one another. Then suddenly, while waiting for the light to change and headed to the health food market, her energy shifted radically. She said she felt dizzy and had to hurry home. She'd been talking pretty much non-stop the whole time, a kind of manic state that evolved from being way too angry at the library, to happiness bordering giddy joy while on the book search, to this precipitous drop to zero. She was apologetic but I assured her I understood, that it was natural considering the strain she'd been under. We hugged and parted.The End is always Love

"Thus
it is clear that in this way all the dharmas are within your own
natures, yet your own natures are always pure. The sun and the moon are
always bright, yet if they are covered by clouds, although above they're
bright, below they are darkened, and the sun, moon, stars, and planets
cannot be seen clearly. But if suddenly the wind of wisdom should blow and roll away
the clouds and mists, all forms in the universe appear at once. The
pu­rity of the nature of humankind in this world is like the blue sky;
wisdom is like the sun, knowledge like the moon. Although knowledge and
wis­dom are always clear, if you cling to external environments, the
floating clouds of false thoughts will create a cover, and your own
natures can­not become clear."(daily reminder from Commit to Sit practice) LINKSCalvin and Hobbeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Calvin_and_Hobbes_books Commit to Sithttp://zencare.org/commit-to-sit/

BOB and SOPHIE

WILF RIP

JUDE's MAGIC FEATHER PROJECT

(click on box to go to site)

JUDE's FLICKER

MAGIC FEATHER (click on picture to view slide show)

JUDE's STONES

Jude's Gathering STONES

ZEN HABITS

(click on picture)

You are always nearer to the true sources of your power than you think. The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive.The great opportunity is where you are. Every place is the center of the world." -John Burroughs-

PLANT GROWTH

click on Photo for a short video

WHAT IF

What if every little thing you do subtly alters the course of world history? What if your day-to-day decisions will actually help determine how the human species navigates its way through the epic turning point we're living through?-Rob.Bresney-

COMPASSION HEALS

By three methods we may learn Wisdom: First by reflection, which is noblest- Second by imitation, which is the easiest- Third by experience, which is the bitterest Confucius

WITNESSS

MIRROR

WORSHIP

David Foster Wallace said

The realization that you have something of value to contribute to the greater world necessarily involves prying your mind off yourself for a minute.